Dalcetrapib Reduces Risk of New-Onset Diabetes in Patients With Coronary Heart Disease.

OBJECTIVE: Incident type 2 diabetes is common among patients with recent acute coronary syndrome and is associated with an adverse prognosis. Some data suggest that cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitors reduce incident type 2 diabetes. We compared the effect of treatment with the CETP inhibitor dalcetrapib or placebo on incident diabetes in patients with recent acute coronary syndrome. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: In the dal-OUTCOMES trial, 15,871 patients were randomly assigned to treatment with dalcetrapib 600 mg daily or placebo, beginning 4-12 weeks after an acute coronary syndrome. Absence of diabetes at baseline was based on medical history, no use of antihyperglycemic medication, and hemoglobin A1c and serum glucose levels below diagnostic thresholds. Among these patients, incident diabetes after randomization was defined by any diabetes-related adverse event, new use of antihyperglycemic medication, hemoglobin A1c ≥6.5%, or a combination of at least two measurements of serum glucose ≥7.0 mmol/L (fasting) or ≥11.1 mmol/L (random). RESULTS: At baseline, 10,645 patients (67% of the trial cohort) did not have diabetes. During a median follow-up of 30 months, incident diabetes was identified in 403 of 5,326 patients (7.6%) assigned to dalcetrapib and in 516 of 5,319 (9.7%) assigned to placebo, corresponding to absolute risk reduction of 2.1%, hazard ratio of 0.77 (95% CI 0.68-0.88; P < 0.001), and a need to treat 40 patients for 3 years to prevent 1 incident case of diabetes. Considering only those with prediabetes at baseline, the number needed to treat for 3 years to prevent 1 incident case of diabetes was 25. Dalcetrapib also decreased the number of patients who progressed from normoglycemia to prediabetes and increased the number who regressed from diabetes to no diabetes. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with a recent acute coronary syndrome, incident diabetes is common and is reduced substantially by treatment with dalcetrapib.

Association of high-density lipoprotein particle concentration with cardiovascular risk following acute coronary syndrome: A case-cohort analysis of the dal-Outcomes trial.

BACKGROUND: High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) concentration is inversely related to risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in epidemiologic studies but is a poorer predictor of MACE in patients with established coronary heart disease. HDL particle concentration (HDLP) has been proposed as a better predictor of risk. We investigated whether HDLP is associated with risk of MACE after acute coronary syndrome (ACS). METHODS: The dal-Outcomes trial compared the CETP inhibitor dalcetrapib with placebo in patients with recent ACS. In a nested case-cohort analysis, total, large, medium, and small HDLPs were measured by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy at baseline (4-12 weeks after ACS) in 476 cases with MACE and 902 controls. Hazard ratios (HRs; case-control) for 1-SD increment of HDLP or HDL-C at baseline were calculated with and without adjustment for demographic, clinical, laboratory, and treatment variables. Similarly, HRs for MACE were calculated for changes in HDLP or HDL-C from baseline to month 3 of assigned treatment. RESULTS: Over median follow-up of 28 months, the risk of MACE was not associated with baseline HDLP (adjusted HR = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.84-1.15, P = .81), any HDLP subclass, or HDL-C. Dalcetrapib increased HDL-C and total, medium, and large HDLP and decreased small HDLP but had no effect on MACE compared with placebo. There were no association of risk of MACE with change in HDLP or HDL-C and no interaction with assigned study treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Neither baseline HDLP nor the change in HDLP on treatment with dalcetrapib or placebo was associated with risk of MACE after ACS.